Surgical coverall



Oct. 25, 1966 K. R. NEvn'T SURGICAL COVERALL Filed Feb. ze, 1964 INVENTOR. K EM R. N EVI TT ATTORNEY United States Patent C) 3,280,403 SURGICAL COVERALL Kem R. Nevitt, P.0. BOX 365, Fredonia, Kans. Filed Feb. 26, 1964, Ser. No. 347,587 1 Claim. (Cl. 2-79) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in the structure of one-piece garments or coveralls especially well suited for use in the performance of surgical, ob'stetrical and like procedures, and to such garments that are sterilizable and yet impervious to liquids.

This invention is related to my copending application S.N. 297,598 and now Patent No. 3,229,305 entitled Garment for Medical Use, filed July 25, 1963, and the disclosure thereof is herein incorporated by reference. Such other application concerns a twodpiece garment, whereas this application concerns a one-piece -garment affording a substantial degree of protection from the rear as well as the front.

In the practice of medicine and especially in the prac- A tice of veterinary medicine, it is highly desirable during the performance of surgical and like procedures (by which is meant conducting examinations, giving treatments, performing deliveries, performing surgical operations, etc.) that liquid impervious protection `be afforded the doctor by a garment that does not impede his freedom of movement. For such users, it is also dee-med very important that the garment be readily susceptible to rapid, eicient and effective sterilization procedures, whereby the spread of infections and disease can be minimized. Needless to say, many other classes of `garment users have need for a garment that will afford protection for them as well as any other garments that may be worn under the outer garment from .materials with which they are in contact. Obviously, the provision of a garment which can be readily sterilized, such as in a steam sterilizing autoclave, is usable in nonrnedical fields.

In order that the protection afforded by a garment be as complete as possible,it is highly preferable that the front of the garment be continuous and entirely free of openings, and that the sleeves and legs embrace the wearer at least at their outer extremities with sufiicient snugness to prevent the ingress of foreign material.

Another desideratum is that the garment has a large degree of size adaptability so that a single -garment may be used by people of different sizes and/ or `with a greater or lesser amount of other clothing being worn under the garment.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a one-piece garment that will afford an optimum amount of liquid impervious protection to at least the forward portions of the torso, legs and arms of the wearer of the same, and to provide such a garment that can ybe subjected to repeated sterilization procedures in a `steam autoclave without substantial deleterious effects.

Another important object of the present invention in accordance with the preceding object is to provide a onepiece garment or suit having substantial size adaptability, and which will provide a substantial degree of freedom of movement to the wearer.

Yet another object of the invention in accordance with the lpreceding objects is to provide a garment that is resistant to staining and otherwise acquiring an objectionable or untidy appearance, and which garment is resistant to being torn or .punctured (such as by fang or claw in the -practice of veterinary medicine).

A very important object of the invention is to provide a garment of one-piece construction that presents a substantially continuous front, and which can -be easily put on and removed by the wearer, with the access opening through which the wearer gets into or out of the garment being located so that the opening can be conveniently closed by the wearer.

3,289,403 Patented Oct. 25, 1966 A very important feature of the present invention is that the garment is made of a sheet material comp-used of a woven fabric that is coated with a synthetic resin that renders the same :substantially impervious to liquids, such sheet material being sterilizable and otherwise eas1ly cleaned.

Another very important feature of the present invention is the provision of an L-shaped opening having an apex locate-d in closely spaced relationship to an arm opemng, such L-shaped opening extending from the apex thereof to intersect the neck opening, and extending from the apex downwardly to adjacent the waist of the wearer, such downward or vertical extent of the opening being substantially displaced from the center of the front portion of the garment, the arrangement being such that when the L-shaped opening is open, the same together with the neck opening constitutes the access opening whereby the wearer gets into [or out of the garment.

Still another feature of the invention in accordance with the preceding feature involves the provision of a slide fastener operable from the lower end of the L-shaped opening to selectively close the vertical extent thereof, together with the provision of separate fastening 4means for cl-osing the horizontal extent of the L-shaped opening.

Yet another feature of the invention resides in the provision of drawstrings for the waist portion of the garment as well as for the outer extremities of the sleeves and the legs, whereby the waist can be drawn up snugly and whereby the outer extremities of the legs and sleeves can be tightened snugly about the wearer.

Broadly, the present invention involves a one-piece garment comprising upper and lower garment sections adapted respectively to accommodate the upper and lower parts of the wearers body with the sections being contiguous and permanently joined about the periphery of the wearers waist, said lower section including leg portions and said upper section being provided with a pair of arm openings and a neck opening intermediate said arm openings and a neck opening intermediate said arm openings, said upper section having front and rear panels and including a first elongated opening extending from a position adjacent and spaced from one of said arm openings to intersect with the neck opening, cooperating means carried by the upper garment section and disposed on the opposite sides of the first elongated opening for releasably connecting and holding such opposite sides in close proximity to each other, said upper garment section -being also provided with a second elongated opening extending from adjacent the juncture of the upper and lower garment sections to said position to intersect with the first elongated opening at an angle steeply inclined thereto, slide fastener means operable from the end of the second opening remote from the first opening' for releasably closing the second opening, whereby the neck opening, the lirst opening and the second opening constitute jointly a single entrance opening through which the wearer can get into and out of the garment on opening the first and second openings, and said second opening being asymmetrically located with respect to the front panel whereby the central portion of the front panel is free of openings. l

Still anotherraspect of the invention involves a onepiece garment comprising upper and lower garment sections respectively adapted to surround the upper and lower portions of the body of a wearer, with such sections being permanently joined about the waist of the wearers body, said lower sections being provided with a pair of leg openings and sleeves, said upper section including a neck opening spaced from and intermediate the arm openings, said upper section further including a pair of portions extending from opposite sides of the neck openingv to the arm openings adapted to receive the shoulders of a wearer, an elongated first opening in one of said shoulderreceiving portions intersecting at one end of the neck opening and having its other end adjacent one of said arm openings, said garment including portions adapted to receive the hips of the wearer with one of such hipreceiving portions Ibeing disposed on the same side of the garment as said one of the arm openings, said upper section being provided with a second elongated opening having one end at and intersecting the iirst opening adjacent said other end of the latter, with said second opening extending downwardly from the iirst end thereof and having its second end disposed adjacent the juncture of the garment sections and said one hip-receiving portions, said neck opening and said first and second openings jointly defining a single large opening enabling a wearer to get into and out of the garment, a slide fastener operable from the second end of the second opening to selectively close the second opening along its length, and cooperating fastening means carried by said one of the shoulder-receiving portions on opposite sides of the iirst opening for closing the latter.

Another aspect of the invention involves in a one-piece garment of the class adapted to encompass the torso of a wearer and provided with a neck opening and pairs of arm and leg openings, the improvement comprising the garment having a substantially L-shaped opening therein having an a-pex located in spaced proximity to one of the arm openings, and extending therefrom substantially horizontally to intersect the neck opening and extending from its apex substantially vertically, said garment including a front and a waist portion, with said vertical extent of the L-shaped opening terminating at its lower end adjacent the waist portion of the garment and such vertical extent of the L-shaped opening being substantially displaced laterally from the center of the front of the garment, slide fastener means for selectively closing the vertical extent of the L-shaped opening, and a plurality of spaced fasteners spaced along the horizontal extent of the L-shaped opening for selectively closing such extent of the L-shaped opening, whereby the L-shaped opening can be closed when wearing the garment with the latter presenting a continuous, opening-free front.

Another aspect of the invention involves a garment of the class defined above made of a sheet material comprised of a fabric woven of bers selected from the group consisting of nylon, polyester, and mixtures thereof, such fabric being coated with a synthetic resin selected from the group consisting of silicone rubber, neoprene, chlorosulfonated polyethylene, and mixture thereof.

Other objects, features and aspects of the invention will become apparent in the light of the ensuing description of a' preferred embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE l is a front elevational View of the garment;

(IIGURE 2 is a rear elevational view of the garment; an

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged detail view of a shoulder and sleeve of the garment shown in FIGURES 1 and 2.

Attention is now directed to the accompanying drawings wherein like numerals designate like parts throughout the various views, and wherein the reference numeral designates the one-piece garment of this invention generally.

The garment 10 is made of a exible sheet material more fully descri-bed subsequently, and comprises upper and lower sections 12 and 14 that are coterminous and permanently joined together as lby stitching or the like about the periphery of the garment 10 in the region of the waist 16. The lower section 14 of the garment 10 has conventional leg openings, not shown, and is provided with legs 17 and 18 adapted to entirely enclose the legs of a wearer and delining a crotch 20 at their juncture.

The upper section 12 of the garment 10 includes front and rear panels 22 and 24 respectively that are joined along their opposite lateral edges at the sides 26 and 28 ofthe garment 10.

The upper end portions of the front and -rear panels 22 and 24 define spaced shoulders receiving portions des-ignated generally at 3d and 312, and intermediate the shoulder-receiving portions 3i) and 32, the upper end of the garment 1G is provided with a neck opening 34, the forward and rear edges of the neck opening 34 being defined by the upper edges 36 and 38 of the front and rear panels or garment portions 22 and 24, respectively. Preferably and especially if .the garment 10 is to be used in the practice of medicine, the garment 10 is provided with an upstanding collar 40 attached to the edges 36 and 38 of the front and rear panels 22 and 24.

The shoulder-receiving portion 30 is defined by upper edges of the front and rear panels 22 and 24 being stitched together along the line 42, such line 42 generally corresponding in position to the shoulder line of the garment 10, and the side 12 of the garment 10 is dened by lateral edges of the front and rear panels 22 and 24 being stitched together along the line 43. An opening, not shown, is provided for the right arm of a wearer, and a short tubular sleeve 44 is att-ached to the garment 10 about such arm opening as by stitching indicated at 46. In a similar manner, an opening 48 is provided for the left arm of a wearer, and a tubular short sleeve 50 is stitched to the garment 10 about the periphery of the opening 48 as at S2.

In the preferred construction of the garment 10, the extremities of the sleeves 44 and S0 and the extremities of the legs 17 and 18 are respectively provided with drawstrings S4, 56, 58 and 60, respectively, whereby the outer ends o f such sleeves and legs can be drawn up and secured snugly about the upper arms and the ankles of a wearer as will be apparent.

In the immediate vicinity of the arm opening 48 and the sleeve Si), the shoulder portion 32 is defined by the upper edges of the front and rear panels 22 and 24 being securely stitched together `along the shoulder line of the garment 10 as indicated at 62 in FIGURE 3. shaped opening is provided in the upper section 12 of the garment 10, the apex of such opening being designated by the reference numeral 64 and being located at the end of the shoulder line stitching 62 remote from the sleeve 56. In other words, the apex 64 of the L-shaped opening is located :along the shoulder line of the garment 1) in close proximity to but spaced from the arm opening 48. The L-shaped opening is comprised of a straight horizontal extent 66 that extends along the shoulder line from the apex 64 of the opening along the shoulder line ridge or top edge of the shoulder portion 32 to the neck opening 34 and extends through the immediately adjacent and aligned part of the collar 40 as indicated at 68. The opening 66 intersects the neck opening 34 at a position about the periphery of the latter facing the arm opening 48 rand in alignment with the shoulder line of the garment 10 and the opening 66. The L-shaped opening also includes a vertical extent 76 that extends from the apex 64 forwardly and downwardly in the front panel 22 along the left hand side of the latter to terminate at its lower end 72 disposed adjacent the left hand side 28 of the garment 10 and in the immediate vicinity, preferably slightly above the waist 16 of the garment.

As thus far described, it will be seen that the entire extent of the Lshaped opening comprised of the extents 66, 68 and 70 communicates with the neck opening 34, whereby when the L-shaped opening is opened, a wearer can easily get into and out of the garment 10. For example, when the L-shaped opening is opened so as to jointly deiined with the neck opening 34 an access opening, the wearer enters his legs through such access opening and through the legs 17 and 18, and then extends his right arm through the sleeve 44, this being easily followed by extending the left arm through the sleeve 50. It then only remains to close the L-shaped opening and adjust and secure the drawstrings 54, 56, 58 and 60. It is to be especially noted that the entire extent of the L An L-Y shaped opening is disposed so that all portions thereof can be easily reached by the hands of a wearer who has his arms disposed through the sleeves 44 and 56 and his legs extending through the legs 17 and 18. In this connection, it is also of substantial importance to note that when the wearer has his arms and legs so positioned in the garment that the rearmost edges of the entire extent of the L-shaped opening are held substantially in the same positions that they would occupy when the L- shaped opening is secured or closed, the forward edges of the entire extent of the L-shaped opening which may be considered to be relatively free in position are disposed at the front left side of the wearer and in such position that such edges c-an be easily moved by the wearer into the positions occupied thereby when the L- shaped opening is closed. Finally, of paramount importance is the fact that the L-shaped opening is so disposed that virtually the entire front of the garment 10 and in particular the medial or central portion of the front panel 22 is continuous and entirely free of any openings through which foreign matter can gain ingress into the interior of the garment 10.

Means is provided whereby the L-shaped opening can be closed. For this purpose, separate means are provided for closing the horizontal extent 66 and the vertical extent 7i) of the L-shaped opening for a reason to be later explained. The vertical extent 7G of the L-shaped opening is provided with a conventional slide fastener closing means 8i) operable between the lower end 72 of the opening '70 and the apex 64 of the L-shaped opening. The slide fastener means 8i! is operable from the lower end 72 in the sense that the slide 82 of the slide fastener means Si) is disposed at the lower end 72 of the opening 76 when the latter is opened, and is disposed at the apex 64 when the opening 70 is closed as shown in FIGURE 3.

It is obvious that the slide fastener means 80 could be extended to extend continuously from the lower end 72 of the opening 7G to the apex 64 and thence along the extent 66 of the L-shaped opening; however, this arrangement is not preferred inasmuch as the sharp angularity in the extent of the slide fastener means that would occur at the sh-arp angle in the L-shaped opening at the apex 4 will impose excessive strain on the slide fastener means and result not only in the wearer having considerable difficulty in passing the slide 82 about such sharp 4angularity, but will also result in such excessive stresses being placed on the slide fastening means as to result in early malfunction and irreparable damage to such means.

While of course a separate and distinct slide fastener means can be provided for closing the extent 66 of the L-shaped opening, in view of the preceding discussion of the manner in which the L-shaped opening cooperates with the neck opening 34 enabling the wearer to don or remove the garment 1G, it will be evident that such separate provision of independent slide fastener means would necessarily involve such independent slide fastener means being such that the entire extent of the opening 66 could be opened including the extremities thereof. In other words, such independent slide fastener means would have to include provision for entirely decoupling the portions of the slide fastener means associated with the opposite sides of the opening, much in the same manner as the means provided for the medial opening of a conventional jacket. Such coupling of the coupled portions of the slide fastener means adjacent either of the remote extremities of the horizontal extent 66 of the L-shaped opening would involve execution of a two-handed procedure at a position somewhat inconvenient to the wearer. Not only would the provision of such additional independent slide fastener means be inconvenient, but such provision would be more expensive and difficult to repair or replace.

Accordingly, the preferred means provided for selectively closing the horizontal extent 66 of the L-shaped opening comprises the provision of at least one and preferably a plurality of spaced button and loop fasteners of conventional design such as those indicated at 90, 92 and 94 in FIGURES l and 2. Preferably the button and loop fasteners 90, 92 and 94 are spaced along the entire extent 66 of the L-shaped opening from closely adjacent to the slide fastener means 86 to closely adjacent to the collar 40, with such means comprising buttons 96 secured along the edge of the front panel 22 bordering the horizontal extent 66 of the L-shaped opening, and flexible loops 98 secured to the edge of the rear panel 24 bordering such extent 66 of the L-shaped opening. The buttons 96 present a pleasing appearance along the shoulder portion 32 of the garment 1G and can be conveniently engaged with and disengaged from the corresponding loops 88 through the use of only one hand and without visual observation of the procedure.

In donning the garment 10, after the wearer has positioned his arms and legs in the sleeves 44 and Sil and legs 17 and 18 of the garment 16, as previously described, the slide 82 of the slide fastener means 80 is moved upwardly to adjacent the apex 64 of the L-shaped opening, this step not only serving to close the extent 70 of the L-shaped opening, but also serving to place the buttons 96 in the immediate proximity of their respective loops 98, whereupon the wearer can engage the buttons 96 and the loops 98 to close the extent 66 of the L-shaped opening.

In the preferred construction, a drawstring 10i) is provided to encircle the garment 10 adjacent the juncture of the upper and lower sections 12 and 14 of the garment 10 and about the region of the waist 16, the drawstring 100 being arranged so that the free ends thereof are exposed adjacent the lower end 72 of the L-shaped opening (preferably below such end 72) and adjacent the side 28 of the garment 10. After the L-shaped opening has been closed as hereinbefore described, the drawstring 100 can be drawn to selectively adjust the snugness of fit of the waist region of the garment 10 about the waist of the wearer.

Although not shown, it will be evident that the garment 10 can be provided with a closable ily or relief opening in the region of the crotch 20; however, such a provision is not deemed necessary in view of the ease with which the wearer can really move the upper portion of the garment 10 to the extent that may be necessary for such purposes, and the omission of such a provision avoids the provision of an opening such that foreign material may gain access to the interior of the'garrnent 10.

Another important advantage of the garment 10 is that if desired, the wearer can open the L-shaped opening, insert -his legs through the legs 17 and 18 of the garment 10, and then while holding the waist 16 of the garment 10 about the general region of his waist tuck the entire upper section 12 down inside the lower section 14 of the garment 10 and thereafter secure the drawstring 100. Of course in this use of the garment 10, the L-shaped opening is left open, it being noted that the size and position of the L-shaped opening enable the upper section 12 of the garment 10 to be more or less uniformly tucked in about the entire inner periphery of the lower section 14.

The garment 10 is preferably made in its substantial entirety of a flat, flexible sheet material such as disclosed in my previously mentioned copending application, though of course many features of the garment 10 will be of advantage when conventional sheet materials or fabrics such as cotton duck, etc., are used. The preferred sheet material is such as to be substantially previous to liquids and capable of withstanding repeated conventional steam sterilization procedures in .autoclaves at temperatures of about 275 F. Not only are the upper and lower sections 12 and 14 (including the sleeves 44 and 5G, the collar 4t), and the legs 17 and 18) made of the preferred, hereinafter described sheet material, but in addition, the drawstrings 54, 56, 58, `6() and 100 are also preferably made of such material. Stitching is preferably done with thread of the same composition as the fabric of the hereinafter described sheet material.

Briefly, the flat, sheet material is comprised of a coated Woven fabric. The fibers of the woven fabric are selected from a group consisting of nylon, polyester, and mixtures thereof, with nylon being especially preferred. The woven fabric is permeated and/or coated so as to be impervious to liquids with a synthetic resin selected from the group consisting of silicone rubber, neoprene, chlorosulfonated polyethylene, and mixtures thereof, with silicone rubber being especially preferred.

A coated fabric sheet material found to be well suited for the garment 10 is marketed by the Connecticut Hard Rubber Company, 407 East Street, New Haven 9, Connecticut, under the manufacturers designation FGAAO and Specification BMS 1-17A, Type Il, Grade B. This material has a thread count of 40 X 42 and a thickness of 0.006". Thread counts of somewhat less than this to about 48 x 42 are especially preferred and a thickness of somewhat less than this to about 0.009" is especially preferred. This same manufacturer makes a nylon resin coated nylon fabric that can also be used. The silicone rubber coated nylon fabric designated by such manufacturer as SGAOI is also quite suitable.

Vinyl plastics may also be useful provided the sterilization temperatures are not excessive. In general, selection of the fabric and the coating should be in keeping with the temperatures to be employed during steam sterization. If cold sterilization processes are to be used, choice or selection should be made on the basis of resistance to the sterilizing chemicals to be used. It is preferred that the garment be suitable for steam sterilization because such mode of sterilization is deemed much superior and effective.

As hereinbefore used, the term polyester has reference to synthetic polyester fibers such as marketed by Du Pont de Nemours of Wilmington, Delaware, under the trademark Dacron; and chlorosulfonated polyethylene makes reference to such synthetic coating materials as marketed by the same company under the trademark Hypalon The garment of this invention is susceptible to numerous variations without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, patch pockets made of the same material as the rest of the garment 10 can be secured to the rear of the body section 14- such as the patch pockets indicated at 110 and 112. It is preferred that the front of neither the upper section 12 nor the front of the lower section 14 of the garment 10 be provided with pockets for the reason that such positioning of pockets might result in accumulation of foreign material, though obviously such Consideration might be overcome by any necessity for such positioning of pockets` While the illustrated form of the garment 10 is extremely simple and devoid of contours, it will be plain that contouring 'of the garment 10 is weil within the skill of the art. Usually, a more simple design is preferred for the reason lthat the drawstring 100 llargely compensates for any lack of contouring and for the further reason that an oversized gar-ment will accommodate persons of differing sizes as well as accommodating those who may wear ordinary street clothes under the garment 10.

The foregoing detailed description of the invention has been presented in order to convey a full and complete understanding of the invention, and narrowness of scope of the invention is not to be thereby imputed; rather, attention is directed to the appended claim in order to determine the actual scope of the invention.

I claim:

A one-piece surgical c-overall comprising upper and lower Coverall sections respectively' adapted to surround the upper and lower portions of the body of a wearer, with such sections being permanently joined about the waist of the wearers body, a drawstring in the Coverall adjacent the juncture of the upper and lower sections for drawing the coverall about and releasably securing the same about the waist of a wearer with a selected degree of .snugness, said lower section being provided with a pair of leg openings and including legs, said upper section being provided with a pai-r of spaced arm openings and sleeves, said upper section including a neck opening spaced from and intermediate the arm openings, said upper section further including a pair of portions extending from opposite sides of the neck opening to the arm openings adapted to receive the shoulders of a wearer, only one of said shoulder-receiving portions having a first opening therein, said iirst opening being elongated and disposed centrally of said one of the shoulder-receiving portions, said iirst opening intersecting at one end the neck opening and having its other end adjacent one of said arm openings, said Coverall including portions adapted to receive the hips of the wearer with one of such hip-receiving portions being disposed on the same side of the coverall as said one of the arm openings, said upper section being provided with a second elongated opening having a first end at and intersecting the lirst opening at said other end of the latter, with said second opening extending downwardly from the first end thereof and having its second end disposed adjacent the juncture of the Coverall sections and said one of the hip-receiving portions, said neck opening and said first and second openings jointly defining a second large generally inverted L-shaped opening enabling the wearer to get into and out of the garment, slide fastener means operable from the second end of the second'opening to selectively close the second opening along its length, cooperating releasable fastening means carried by said one of the shoulder-receiving portions on opposite sides of the first opening for closing the latter, and said Coverall being made of a sheet material substantially impervious to liquids and which is sufficiently resistant to treatment by steam at temperatures as great as about 275 F. to withstand autoclave sterilization without substantial deleterious effects, said sheet material being comprised of a woven fabric coated with a synthetic resin selected from the group consisting of silicone rubber, neoprene, chlorosulfonated polyethylene, and mixtures thereof.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,441,274 5/1948 Kay 2-79 2,465,286 3/1949 VSilver 2-51 2,525,070 10/1950 Greenwald 156-184 2,668,294 2/ 1954 Gilpin 2-76 X 2,766,164 10/1956 Salem 161-227 X 2,988,457 6/1961 Gatcomb 161-227 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,226,613 2/1960 France.

521,438 5/194() Great Britain.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

M. I. COLITZ, R. J. SCANLAN, Assistant Examiners. 

